They are high in Vitamin C, which prevents scurvy, reduces risk of stroke, and helps prevent cancer initiation. They are good sources of Folate, which is an especially important nutrient for pregnant women, since it helps prevent neural tube (spinal column) defects. It may also help prevent heart disease. They are cholesterol free and virtually fat free. They are sources of dietary fiber that lowers cholesterol and may help prevent colon cancer and heart disease. They are low in calories. All these make bramble fruit a good addition to your diet.

But that's not all. Raspberries and blackberries have been shown to contain healthful substances which research shows may slow down the aging process, boost immunity, and protect against chronic disease, including heart disease and cancer.

An increasing number of studies link various foods--especially berries and other intensely colored fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, blueberries, and carrots--with improved health and disease prevention. Some of the healthful, bioactive substances in these foods appear to be the pigments that give them their bright colors. Others are flavor compounds, such as those that give an astringent taste to the seeds.

For example, anthocyanin, which gives berries their red color, is an antioxidant that scavenges free radicals, which may cause aging of cells. Researchers are currently linking anthocyanin activity to improving vision, controlling diabetes, improving circulation, preventing cancer and heart disease, and retarding the effects of aging, particularly loss of memory and motor skills. Ellagic acid, a phenolic compound found in berries, has exhibited anti-carcinogenic effects against a wide range of carcinogens in several tissues. And ellagic acid has been shown, in studies with rats and mice, to contribute to significant inhibition of colon, esophageal, liver,lung, tongue, and skin cancers.

Why not just take a nutritional supplement?When it comes to nutrition, no one has been able to outsmart Mother Nature. Research shows that it is a combination of phytochemicals working together with the berry's fiber, vitamins, and minerals which make it so effective. For example, the combination of anthocyanins, Vitamin C, and ellagic acid can act together, contributing to berries' high ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) value, a measure of antioxidant effectiveness. Antioxidants are shown to work best when combined; the presence of fiber, and other plant compounds enhance the health benefit. Scientists have also found that raspberries blackberries may have cancer-fighting properties, but cannot attribute them to only one component. For these reasons, a nutraceutical source --a food with health properties-- is a more viable antioxidant option than a dietary supplement. And a lot tastier!

RELATED TOPICS: Honey

Some honey — much of which is imported from Asia — has been found to contain toxins like lead and other heavy metals, as well as drugs like chloramphenicol.There might be something funny in your honey.

Food-safety experts have found that much of the honey sold in the United States isn't actually honey, but a concoction of corn or rice syrup, malt sweeteners or "jiggery" (cheap, unrefined sugar), plus a small amount of genuine honey, according to Wired UK.

Worse, some honey — much of which is imported from Asia — has been found to contain toxins like lead and other heavy metals, as well as drugs like chloramphenicol, an antibiotic, according to a Department of Justice news release.

And because cheap honey from China was being dumped on the U.S. market at artificially low prices, Chinese honey is now subject to additional import duties. So Chinese exporters simply ship their honey to Thailand or other countries, where it is relabeled to hide its origins, according to NPR.org.

This international "honey-laundering" scandal has now resulted in a Justice Department indictment of two U.S. companies and the charging of five people with selling mislabeled honey that also contained chloramphenicol.

"This is a huge deal for the industry. This is the first admission by a U.S. packer," of knowingly importing mislabeled honey, Eric Wenger, chairman of True Source Honey, told NPR. True Source Honey is an industry consortium with an auditing system to guarantee the actual origin of honey.

Honey isn't the only food product subject to impurities and mislabeling. Olive oil is often cut with cheaper oils and sold at premium prices, a practice that's expected to expand as a shortage of the oil (caused by a 2012 drought in southern Europe) hits global markets.

A possible solution to the honey-provenance quandary has come from an unlikely source: astronomy. A laser isotope ratio-meter was developed to search for methane gas on Mars, according to Wired UK. But that same technology can be used to analyze the smoke given off by heated honey, olive oil or other food to find its unique carbon "fingerprint" and determine its origin.

A sample of honey, for example, can be matched to the flowers of a specific geographic region through the laser analysis.

"You will know, in the case of olive oil, if it genuinely comes from Sicily or if it is a counterfeited fake," Damien Weidmann, laser spectroscopy expert at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell, England, told Wired UK.

Honey is an ideal application for the laser isotope ratio-meter because "it's an expensive product to buy, but you can create a counterfeit product that looks very similar using sugar instead of bees," David Bell, director of Protium (manufacturer of the isotope ratio-meter), told Wired UK.